The C major prelude presents itself as a tightly woven texture of
four complementary voices. There are no distinct motives; recurring
melodic features appear more like formulas marking the beginning or
end of a structural unit. The formal design of the prelude is
determined by its harmonic progressions, together with secondary
features like peak-note lines.

II/1.1.2 The overall design of the
prelude

The first harmonic progression concludes on the downbeat of bar 3.
This phrase is the only one in the entire prelude in which all motion
is provided for by the soprano alone: the alto has not yet made its
entry, and tenor and bass are locked in a tonic pedal in double
octave. As these three voices have not yet entered the musical
development, this cadential close cannot be regarded as a structural
caesura. Such caesura occurs only after the reiteration 
now with four active voices  of the C major
cadential progression. This second cadence concludes in bar 5. When
reading through the piece for the first time, one might assume that
this is a strong-beat ending in which the close falls on the middle
beat. Comparing this ending with similar ones in bars 8, 20 and 22 it
is evident that these cadential closes end in weak-beat extensions of
four sixteenth-notes. The first section of the prelude thus concludes
on the fourth beat of bar 5.

The pattern established in this first progression, i.e. a
not-quite conclusive cadence followed by a stronger confirmation, is
repeated twice in the course of this composition. In bars 14 and 28,
a modulation to a new key area is harmonically complete but somewhat
unconvincing due to the rest in the bass. The target key is
subsequently corrected and firmly closed a few bars later.

There are altogether eight structural sections in this
prelude.

Ia, b

bars 1-3d-54

I

(C major)

II

bars 54 - 82

I - ii

(C major/D minor)

III

bars 82 - 11d

ii confirmed

(D minor)

IVa, b, c

bars 11-142-163-202

ii - vi - IV

(D minor/A minor/F major)

V

bars 202 - 224

IV - V

(F major/G major)

VI

bars 224 - 253

V

(G major)

VIIa, b

bars 253-284-302

V - ii - I

(G major/D minor/C major)

VIIIa, b

bars 302-322-34

I

(C major)

These eight sections thus represent, on a large scale, the steps
of the simple progression: tonic (bars 1-5), subdominant (bars 6-20),
dominant (bars 20-25) and return to the tonic.

The prelude contains two extended passages which are built in
strict correspondence to one another:

compare

with

bars 54 - 143

bars 202 - 284

Another analogy which is established through the use of pedal
notes rather than that of melodic resemblance exists between the
opening bars and the closing bars:

compare

with

bars 1 - 3d

bars 32 - 34

We can thus condense our structural overview into the following
schema:

opening

main

middle

main-section

closing

section

section

section

recapitulation

section

bars 1-3/3-5

bars 5-14

bars 14-20

bars 20-28

bars 28-32/32-34

II/1.1.3 Practical considerations for
performers

In this texture of voices which complement one another in a
seemingly endless stream of sound, no articulation or even obvious
phrasing is desirable. Instead, the sound flow should meander from
one voice to the other in an unbroken legato.

An appropriate tempo has to take into consideration both the
details of the surface pattern and the underlying metric pulse. It
must be calm enough to allow for clarity in the sixteenth-notes and
occasional thirty-second-notes in the weaving lines, but not so slow
as to render the quarter-note beats imperceptible.

II/1.1.4 What is happening in this
prelude

When describing details of tension growth and decrease in this
prelude, we must keep in mind that these appear only as shadings
before the backdrop of the predominant harmonic developments.

The first phrase (bars 1-3d) displays an ornamental line falling
over an entire octave. The dynamic development follows the shape,
creating a single diminuendo. The line can be read as a hidden
two-part structure in double sixths (ex. 9):

This hidden two-part structure anticipates what later materializes
frequently as a complementary pattern between two adjacent
voices.

The second phrase (bars 3-5m) appears as a more complex
reiteration of the same process. Here, the octave descent occurs
within the first half bar in the form of a scale which falls through
the alto and bass registers. The descent is then extended, first
imitating the more elaborate ornamental pattern of the first phrase
(see bars 3m-4), then continuing in a cadential bass pattern (bars
4-5m). The falling line covers altogether more than two octaves.

Only from bar 6 onward does the listener get the impression of
true four-part structure, and secondary features emerge with slight
tendencies to counteract the overwhelming impression of descent. The
tenor emancipates itself in bar 4 with a four-note ascent (a little
crescendo); the soprano, which had been motionless for more than a
bar, follows with an ascending fourth (bar 4m: D-G; a smaller
crescendo), and the alto adds an even weaker ascending step (bar 4:
B-C). After this, all voices blend in once more with the overall
relaxation. This is completed with the weak-beat ending in the bass.
(Careful: the four ascending sixteenth-notes here are passive, and
the C on beat 4 of bar 5 is most probably a pianissimo note.)

The first phrase of the main section introduces a figure which is
to recur several times as an active gesture: the zig-zag broken-chord
descent in sixteenth-notes which, after reaching an artificial
leading-note (F#), resolves
indirectly onto G (see bass bar 54 to bar 62). This short figure will
be referred to as M1. Its little tension-curve with the dynamically
active beginning inspires two similar curves in the soprano (bars
6/7) and bass (bars 6/7). A last, softer curve in the soprano (bars
7/8) leads to the final relaxation of this phrase with a weak-beat
ending on the second beat of bar 8. (Again, the ascending notes in
the tenor are passive and end in pianissimo.)

The second phrase of the main section also begins with M1 in the
bass, followed by a one-bar dynamic curve in the soprano (bars 8/9).
It is interesting to see that, upon closer inspection, the end of
this phrase corresponds with that of the previous phrase (compare
S+A: bar 7 with B: bar 10, and the passive ascent in T: bar 8 with
the passive descent in S+T: bar 11). The performers shaping
should be geared towards underscoring such resemblances.

The next phrase consists of two consecutive larger curves. One
begins in bar 11 with three active gestures (S, B, A) followed by a
protracted relaxation through to the second beat of bar 13; the other
is launched primarily by the prominent bass line which builds up some
tension in bars 13/14. The phrase ends once more with passive
gestures (here in A + T).

In the middle section, it is possible to continue thinking in
little curves. Yet there are overriding large-scale pitch lines which
deserve attention and should determine the performers concept
of dynamic shaping. The first peak line occurs in the bass: after two
consecutive active gestures describing ascending fourths (see bars
14/15: C to F and F to Bb), it
descends gradually in an ornamented line which extends through the
remainder of this middle section, i.e. through six full bars. This
bass line is joined, in the second phrase within this section, by a
similar embellished descent in the soprano:

bars

15

16

17

18

19

20

soprano

A

G . . F

E . . D

C# C B
Bb

A

bass

Bb . . A

. G . . F

. . E . D

. C . Bb

A . . G

F

The most appropriate interpretation, which admittedly asks for a
long breath of the performer, is one that renders the
entire descent as one gradual diminuendo.

From bar 20 onwards, the recapitulation of the main section
follows, developing along the same lines as the motions described
earlier. It is complemented in bars 28-30 and 30-32 by two short
phrases featuring fragments of M1 in the bass (see bars 28-29 and bar
30). These are integrated by another descending peak line which ends
in a keynote / leading-note / keynote formula:

bars

28

29

30

31

32

soprano

A Ab

G

F# F

. E

D

B . C

B

C

Again, rendering these bars in a continuous and almost unbroken
diminuendo would seem the best interpretative choice.

The final phrase (which begins after the passive gesture, i.e. in
bar 32 beat 2!) can be said to bring forth the real surprise of this
prelude. It is launched by yet another fragment of M1, this time in
the alto, followed by an active gesture in the soprano (bars 32/33).
The penultimate bar of the piece  which, due to voice
splitting, regains four-part texture despite the extended bass pedal
 expresses such obvious reluctance to calm down and
resolve that it is probably most appropriately interpreted as a final
build-up to the seven-part climactic chord that concludes the
prelude.

To sum up, the preludes main section (and its
recapitulation) contain fairly intricate patterns of small-scale
tension curves. The middle section and the two initial phrases of the
closing section are characterized by large-scale descents. The
opening section also represents descending motions, while the final
phrase, structurally conceived as a coda, is the only one in the
entire prelude to be dominated by clearly increasing tension, which
ends this meditative prelude on a surprisingly assertive note.

WTC II/1 in C major 
Fugue

II/1.2.1 The subject

With its length of four bars, divided by a rest exactly in its
middle, the subject of the C major fugue reveals a very regular
phrase structure. The beginning after an eighth-note rest converts
the first bar into an upbeat to bar 2; similarly the third bar, with
its downbeat rest, also serves metrically as an upbeat to bar 4,
after which the phrase concludes on the first sixteenth-note of bar
5.

The question whether this phrase consists of two subphrases or one
indivisible unit with a tension-sustaining rest in its middle, allows
for two answers. These have to be in keeping with the interpretation
of several other features in the subject of this fugue. Let us look
at these features first.

The pitch outline develops in a fairly restricted range, between
the middle C as the lowest and the sixth (A) as the highest note. The
beginning on the fifth gives the subject a hint of being
already in the middle of things, while the conclusion on the
third has a gently releasing quality. The pitch pattern contains two
accented inverted-mordent figures (see bars 1 and 3) and an
unaccented one (see bar 4). These written-out ornaments suggest that
the remaining sixteenth-notes (in the subject, and in the fugue as a
whole) should also be interpreted as ornamental  rather
than melodious  in their intent. The two larger
intervals within the subject appear as consecutive jumps (see bars
1/2), thus confirming the lively character. The target of these
consecutive jumps, the A on bar 2d, is supported in many ways:
melodically the highest pitch, rhythmically the first of two longer notes, and
harmonically representing the subdominant, it is further emphasized
by an ornament in full speed (see the inverted-mordent symbol) before
it relaxes slightly in the following step downward.

One could now perceive bars 3-5 as a varied sequence of bars 1/2:
(GF)G-C-A-G would have become an ornamented (FE)F-(E)-D---E. In this
view, the subject appears as two (fairly balanced) subphrases. The
rest in bar 3 must then played as an interruption before a new
beginning, the written-out inverted mordent following it (see bar 3
F-E-F) would be more active than the fairly relaxed G in bar 2, and
the D on bar 4d would come out as a second (though softer)
climax.

Another view is equally possible - and perhaps more conducive to
the transmission of overall unity in the subject. The entire string
of sixteenth-notes in bars 3-5 can be regarded as ornamental. One
would then define the main melodic steps in the subject as
(GF)G-C-A-G-F---E. In this case, the gradual descent from A to E
requires an uninterrupted line. The rest in bar 3 is then perceived
as tension-sustaining, after a G which sounds only minimally softer
than the preceding climax. The A-G and the tension-sustaining rest
would thus allow for a further release through the following F (and
all its gradually retreating ornamental surroundings) to the final E.
In other words, this interpretation renders the subject as an
uninterrupted unit.

The harmonic background of the subject does not do reveal anything
that would decide the matter. The active step to the subdominant
appears on bar 2d - but then we never had any doubts about the
overall climax anyway. Bar 4 represents the relative minor to the
subdominant, which is then followed by the dominant and the final
tonic (ex. 10).

II/1.2.2 The statements of the
subject

The three voices of the C major fugue present altogether eight
subject entries:

1.

bars 1-5

M

5.

bars 25-29

U

2.

bars 5-9

U

6.

bars 39-43

L

3.

bars 9-13

L

7.

bars 47-51

M

4.

bars 21-25

M

8.

bars 51-55

U

(ex. 11)

Apart from the interval modification in the answer (where the
falling fifth in the first bar becomes a fourth) the subject does not
experience any changes; neither does it appear in any stretto or
parallel setting.

II/1.2.3 The counter-subject

After concluding the subject, the middle voice presents a melodic
line against the answer, i.e. at a point where one expects a
counter-subject to be introduced. In the further course of the piece,
this line recurs twice in its unabridged version (see middle voice
bars 25-29 and 51-55); in two other cases, only the initial bar
reappears (see upper voice bars 9 and 39).

While independent from the subject in structure, this
counter-subject is not completely independent in material. The first
two bars (see from the second sixteenth-note D in bar 5) are closely
related to the subjects final two bars, and only the
counter-subjects second half with its ascending scale,
syncopation and closing-formula contributes new components. Another
shortcoming of this counter-subject is the fact that its unabridged
version remains restricted to the middle voice, appearing always in
accompaniment to an upper-voice subject statement, and thus lacks
true polyphonic versatility.

The inner structure of this phrase poses an important question for
the contrapuntal setting in this fugue. Following the pitch pattern
of descending sequences in the first two bars of the counter-subject,
most performers will choose to interpret these as expressing
gradually lessening tension. After the lowest note A, the ascending
scale would then support an increase towards the syncopation, after
which the closing-formula brings a relaxation.

With this dynamic outline in mind, let us go back to our two
options for the interpretation of the phrase structure in the
subject. We shall find that the concept described above for the
counter-subject is ideally suited to balance the concept of the
subject as an indivisible phrase. In the case of a subject consisting
of two dynamic curves, however, this interpretation of the
counter-subject is most unlikely as it would create simultaneous
phrase cuts in both voices and thus interrupt the polyphonic texture
in quite an awkward way. (Performers who definitely prefer a divided
interpretation of the subject must therefore render the
counter-subject as an unbroken phrase, beginning with an extended
crescendo.)

The two sketches display the options available for the phrase
structure and dynamic design in subject and counter-subject.

(ex. 12)

II/1.2.4 The episodes

The C major fugue contains only four subject-free passages.

E1

bars 13-21

E3

bars 43-47

E2

bars 29-39

E4

bars 55-83

At this point it might be interesting to learn that Bachs
first version of this fugue (according to the Kellner manuscript)
ended on bar 68d. The composer later re-wrote the perfect cadence in
bars 67/68 as an interrupted cadence and added sixteen bars on a
pedal note C. This extended coda certainly concludes the piece much
more convincingly. At the same time, the fact that it was not yet
there in the earlier version is of great help for a true
understanding of the fugues architectonic design.

The episodes make ample use of material from the subject.

-

E1 contains an imitative pattern based on the
subjects first half, complemented by an eighth-note
instead of the rest (see bars 13-19, upper and middle
voices; the final imitation in the middle voice is inverted
and varied). This pattern recurs faithfully in bars 55-61.
In both instances, the lower voice adds a figure which is
derived from the last bar of the subject and/or from the
first bar of the counter-subject. The lower-voice
sixteenth-notes then continue, with a little more liberty,
until the end of the episode (bar 21 downbeat) and until the
final cadence of the earlier version (bar 67 downbeat)
respectively.

-

The head of the subject occurs further in the coda where
it is imitated through all three voices (see bars 68-72: L,
bars 72-76: M, bars 76-80: U). The first eight bars are
again accompanied by the sixteenth-note figures from subject
ending and/or counter-subject beginning.

-

In E2, the first segment contains a two-bar motive which
is only in its beginning rhythmically related to the subject
head (see bars 29-31: U, sequenced in bars 31-33); this is
again accompanied by the string of thematic sixteenth-notes.
The second segment of this episode brings an imitation built
exclusively on the sixteenth-note pattern (see bars 33-37d:
U, bars 34-39d: M).

-

E3 displays a lower voice which is even more closely
related to the end of the subject as it sequences the final
bar (see bars 43-46: L).

Apart from the final bars of the coda, the only components of the
episodes that are not related to the primary material appear in the
upper and middle voices of bars 43-47 and 61-67. They do, however,
recall the other episodes insofar as they also contain an imitative
pattern in sequences.

The role each episode plays in the dynamic design of the fugue is
easily determined in accordance with the sequential patterns. E1
builds up tension through bars 13-19 but then brings a slight release
in bars 19-21. E2 keeps a very low profile in its constantly falling
lines. E3, on the contrary, ascends continuously in all three voices
and thus produces a considerable increase. E4, like E1, begins with
rising lines and a crescendo (bars 55-61) followed by a gradual
descent (bars 61-65) and a cadential release - which now, in its
revised version as an interrupted cadence, expresses much more
intensity than did the earlier perfect cadence. The coda begins in a
fairly leveled softer shade, followed only in bars 80-83 (see the
split voices) by a final strengthening.

The uniformity and simple relationship throughout both the primary
and secondary material adds to the playful character of the fugue.
This character is further enhanced by rhythmic continuity: before the
final cadence, the sixteenth-note pulsation is almost constant, with
minimal interruptions only on four occasions (see immediately after
the downbeat in bars 11, 21, 22 and 41).

II/1.2.5 Character, tempo, articulation,
ornament realization

After all that has already been observed, the basic character of
this fugue can no longer be a mystery. The simplicity of the rhythmic
pattern, the ornamental structure of the pitch line and the jumps
that occur both in the subject and in the episode material clearly
express a rather lively character. The tempo, too, should be
fairly swift. The articulation that follows requires non legato for
the eighth-notes and quarter-notes, and legato for the
sixteenth-notes.

The relative tempo of the prelude to the fugue should be chosen in
complex proportion. The reason lies in the prevailing patterns of
almost continuous sixteenth-notes in both pieces which would sound
dull if the respective pulses were in simple proportion. A good and
feasible solution is to translate each of the four quarter-notes in
the final bar of the prelude into triplet eighth-notes (instead of
the previously felt four sixteenth-notes), and to turn these imagined
triplet eighth-notes - after having freed them of their grouping into
lots of three - into the eighth-notes of the fugue (Approximate
metronome settings: prelude beats = 72, fugue beats = 108). In other
words:

an (assumed) triplet eighth-note

corresponds with

an eighth-note

in the prelude

in the fugue

The prominent ornament (now talking about those notated in
symbols) is the inverted mordent in the subject. Its pitch does not
pose a problem as it always uses the natural (white key) for its
lower neighbor note. As is the case with all ornaments which form a
characteristic feature of a fugue subject, this inverted mordent must
be played even where the composer did not write it again (i.e. in
bars 22 and 26). By contrast, the episode motives deriving from the
subject head need not be ornamented as Bach does not indicate this in
a single case. (The presence or absence of the ornament has the
further advantage that it tells listeners already after one bar
whether what they are hearing is going to be a subject entry or a
subject-related motive - a distinction which, due to the uniformity
of material in this fugue, would otherwise not be so easy to
make.)

Another ornament appears in two of the three statements of the
counter-subject. In bar 8 it is printed as an inverted mordent, while
bar 28 features a mordent symbol without the slash. The first reading
is slightly confusing in a typical closing-formula where the
experienced performer might have added a full trill even without any
ornament symbol from the composers hand. Thus the second
reading appears more convincing and can safely be chosen in both
cases. As a leading-note trill approached stepwise it begins with a
sixteenth-note on the main note, followed by six thirty-second-notes
including the suffix, and resolving smoothly and without interruption
on the following downbeat. In bar 54 the closing-formula is varied
and needs no ornament.

Finally, the long trill with a tie-suspension in bars 37/38 begins
regularly, i.e. from the upper note; it then shakes in
thirty-second-notes until the very end of the bar where it ties the
last F over to the next downbeat. No suffix is possible in this case
since the ornamented note lacks a resolution.

II/1.2.6 The design of the fugue

Cadential formulas together with the key of the subject entries
and the dynamic build-up in some of the episodes determine the
structural layout in this fugue. Only the end of the initial section
might cause some doubt. In bars 21/22, Bach presents the first
closing-formula with typical features in both the upper and the lower
voices, thus creating a strong feeling of closure. The fact, however,
that the beginning of a subject statement in the middle voice
overlaps with this closing-formula for an entire bar strings the
first and second sections closely together.

As the number of voices is reduced to two after the cadence in
bars 24/25 - and thus would normally advocate the beginning of the
second section only here, one obviously needs good grounds for a
differing view. The reasons which lead to assume the closing of the
first section in bar 22 are as follows:

(a)

As all three voices have already presented the subject,
the first section can only end here or after one more - a
redundant - statement. Yet the overlapping subject statement
in the middle voice ends with a cadential close which is
much less satisfactory as a close, due to a sudden breaking
off in the upper voice (see bar 25d) which creates a strong
link between the upper-voice line in bar 24 and the new
beginning in bar 25.

(b)

The overlapping subject statement in bars 21-25, while
commencing in the harmonic surroundings of G major, soon
reveals its key as D minor (see the
C#s and
Bbs from bar 22 onwards).
This statement thus forms a pair with the following
upper-voice entry which, from its second bar onwards, is in
A minor - the minor dominant of the preceding
statement. A closer look at the beginning of both statements
further strengthens this view as they display the interval
structure of subject + answer. (Compare bars 21/25 with bars
1/5.)

(c)

If the subject entry in bars 25-29 was the first of a new
section, then the episode which follows would have to be
regarded as linking two consecutive statements. The long and
definite tension decrease in E2, however, makes such an
interpretation very unlikely.

(d)

The dynamic design of E1 is very much related to that of
the original E4 (until bar 68): both describe a full curve,
using similar material.

Having said all this, a conclusion for the remaining sections
follows without problems. The harmonically related entries in bars
21-25 and 25-29 constitute, together with the decreasing E2, the
second section. The return to C major and to three-part texture in
bar 39 marks the beginning of the third section which encompasses
three statements and a closing episode (like the first section, the
only difference being the inserted E3). The exceptionally long coda
must be regarded in the light of its relative in the Classical
period: it rounds off the entire piece, not just the final
section.

For a sketch showing the design of the fugue in C major, see the
following graph (ex. 13).

II/1.2.7 The overall dynamic outline of the
fugue

Within both the first and the third sections, the tension rises
from one entry to the next. In the first section, this is bolstered
by the gradual increase in texture, whereas in the third section,
Bach uses two particular devices to create a similar effect: the
beginning in a very low keyboard register (see bars 39-43 in which
even the upper voice sounds mainly below middle C) and the inserted
episode with its strongly increasing direction.

The second section is distinguished by three factors which
decrease tension: the reduced number of voices which is valid for all
but the first four bars, the minor mode, and the strongly decreasing
direction of the episode.

The coda begins somewhat subdued for the first eight bars but
builds up gradually as the pedal moves to the lower C and the
lower-voice figures suggest hidden two-part structure (from bar 76
onwards). When the other voices finally also split, a fully resonant
close is reached.